India Reclaims Spice Route to Counter China's Silk Route

[Indx TechStyle]

India Reclaims Spice Route to Counter China's Silk Route

NEW DELHI: The battle for geopolitical influence has been joined on the high seas in right earnest. India's old spice route is now jostling with China's ancient silk route for the same strategic space in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) in modern times.
The eye-catching Indian naval sail ship,
Tarangini, set sail with a similar Omani ship, Shabab Oman, for Kochi from Muscat on Tuesday , which will see them traverse a distance of 1,500 nautical miles (2,800-km) during the 10-day voyage. The two ships sailing together, in celebration of 60 years of diplomatic relations being established between India and Oman, will retrace historical voyages of yore undertaken by dhows and trading vessels between the ports of the two countries.
"The ships then took advantage of favourable seasonal winds, which are called mausam' in Arabic. The flourishing trade of spices and garments from India, and dates and gold from Oman, nourished the two civilisations, developing cultural and trade linkages over many centuries," said an officer.
Tarangini, which reached Muscat on Sunday after a long trip to Europe, and Shabab will arrive at Kochi to "a grand welcome" on December 3-4. The "togetherness voyage" neatly dovetails into India's Project Mausam, which seeks to revive its ancient economic and cultural links with countries in the IOR with a new strategic focus.
Project Mausam, of course, also intends to counter China's expanding strategic footprint with its Mari time Silk Road and other initiatives to garner economic and political influence from Southeast Asia to the Middle East. "The aim now is to pro-actively engage with all IOR countries, stepping up maritime and strategic ties," said another officer.
But India has been quite slow to play catch-up with China, which has systematically forged maritime links from East Africa, Seychelles, Mauritius and Maldives to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Cambodia. "Another problem is our lack of follow through in the promises made to IOR countries," admitted another officer.
Even though China is mainly trying to ensure protection of its sea lanes for its expanding energy needs, it does also amount to a strategic encirclement of India. The frequent forays by Chinese conventional and nuclear submarines in the IOR over the last year have only served to further accentuate concerns here.
With Project Mausam, India hopes to get some winds back into its geopolitical sails. A key trading partner in the Gulf region with bilateral trade hovering around $6 billion and a 7,00,000- strong Indian expatriate community, Oman is a good place to begin with. The two countries have also institutionalised their "Sea Breeze" and "Naseem-Al-Bahr" naval exercises and "Eastern Bridge" and "Al Jisr Al Sharqi" air exercises as they step up bilateral defence cooperation.

 

[pmaitra]

Spice Route is mainly sea route.
Silk Route is land route.

Which one is more tenable?

Both go through the volatile Middle East.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Spice Route is mainly sea route.
Silk Route is land route.

Which one is more tenable?

Both go through the volatile Middle East.

Yet it is easier to maintain land route, China will have to tackle with growing instability in middle east in future.
And here Spice route, India may come over such problem, we will have to maintain naval superiority and prevent growing Chinese presence here.
Simply, India needs a strong Navy for strong economy.

 

[Srinivas_K]

India is located at a strategic location connecting east and west, have human resources and building infrastructure to be a manufacturing power house. If we concentrate on skill development among our populace and at the same time improve our infrastructure to world class level, then we can compete with any established power until then these titles like "India counters China" or "India competes China" are mere jingoism and makes no sense.

 

[Bahamut]

What about the North South Trade Corridor which was being developed bu India ,Iran ,Russian and Central Asian Republic.It a land route and have multiple partner for security .Are these two linked in any way?

 

[Indx TechStyle]

What about the North South Trade Corridor which was being developed bu India ,Iran ,Russian and Central Asian Republic. ]
It a land route and have multiple partner for security .Are these two linked in any way?

No,
Spice Route is through sea yaar.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

What about the North South Trade Corridor which was being developed bu India ,Iran ,Russian and Central Asian Republic. ]
It a land route and have multiple partner for security .Are these two linked in any way?

No,
Spice Route is through sea yaar.

 

[no smoking]

No, the question is what are you going to sell and what are you going to buy.
In Chinese plan, they are selling manufactured products and buying resources/raw materials from the countries on the silk route;
In the case of India, South east countries are competing against you for those factories moving out of China, which means you are on the same level of value chain; at the meantime, you are also competing with everyone for resource exportation.

Another problems is building the spice route means a great investment on infrastructure in every country not India alone. Well, there is only one country have that scale of money, experience and work force to support such a huge infrastructure project---China.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

No, the question is what are you going to sell and what are you going to buy.
In Chinese plan, they are selling manufactured products and buying resources/raw materials from the countries on the silk route;
In the case of India, South east countries are competing against you for those factories moving out of China, which means you are on the same level of value chain; at the meantime, you are also competing with everyone for resource exportation.

Another problems is building the spice route means a great investment on infrastructure in every country not India alone. Well, there is only one country have that scale of money, experience and work force to support such a huge infrastructure project---China.

Because every country isn't surrounded by Oceans on three sides, world's tallest peak in north, and his neighborhood is
Self Sufficient (like China)
Anti India (like Pakistan)
can't afford our stuff(rest of them 9).
Nor everyone is so lucky to have more than a dozen tradable nations.
Anyway, here's the case of infrastructure, current speed and budget to make it alone (but in a long course of time).

 

[no smoking]

Because every country isn't surrounded by Oceans on three sides, world's tallest peak in north, and his neighborhood is
Self Sufficient (like China)
Anti India (like Pakistan)
can't afford our stuff(rest of them 9).
Nor everyone is so lucky to have more than a dozen tradable nations.

The key countries in your spice route are those in African, Middle east, South East Asia. Obviously they are the ones you are trying to push the trade. So, here is problem: the majority of your exportation or your future exportation overlaps theirs. How are you going to build a trading network when everyone is competing against each other?

Anyway, here's the case of infrastructure, current speed and budget to make it alone (but in a long course of time).

It would have been fine if India's project is their only option. But Chinese is offering them a better and quicker deal. No one is going to wait a long course of time for Indian to deliver their words.

 

[pmaitra]

The key countries in your spice route are those in African, Middle east, South East Asia. Obviously they are the ones you are trying to push the trade. So, here is problem: the majority of your exportation or your future exportation overlaps theirs. How are you going to build a trading network when everyone is competing against each other?



It would have been fine if India's project is their only option. But Chinese is offering them a better and quicker deal. No one is going to wait a long course of time for Indian to deliver their words.

After Modi became the PM, quite a few thing have been streamlined. Let us hope this trend continues. Ultimately, with competing Indian and Chinese goods, it will benefit the African and ME countries.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

The key countries in your spice route are those in African, Middle east, South East Asia. Obviously they are the ones you are trying to push the trade. So, here is problem: the majority of your exportation or your future exportation overlaps theirs. How are you going to build a trading network when everyone is competing against each other?

Our interests are also out of this region. As West is best export partner of eastern countries and India is strongest economy here, we don't need to worry.
Actually, being in centre of Indian Ocean gives us a great advantage as it is way of supply of oil to many countries+ it is route of trade between south east Asian countries.
If our interests overlap theirs, we will have some compromise with them. As our military is also superior in this region, power projection in only this region can affect worldwide trade.
Yes, we have problems we can handle

It would have been fine if India's project is their only option. But Chinese is offering them a better and quicker deal. No one is going to wait a long course of time for Indian to deliver their words.

And China's slowdown+India's fast growth is helping us to catch up now. This one thing is that you must accept about India.

 

[no smoking]

Our interests are also out of this region. As West is best export partner of eastern countries and India is strongest economy here, we don't need to worry.
Actually, being in centre of Indian Ocean gives us a great advantage as it is way of supply of oil to many countries+ it is route of trade between south east Asian countries.

So, India has been trade centre between east and west for decades, there is nothing new here. You don't need to put up a big project with nothing new.

If our interests overlap theirs, we will have some compromise with them. As our military is also superior in this region, power projection in only this region can affect worldwide trade.
Yes, we have problems we can handle

What compromise? Neither you, nor them have the capability to make significant compromise: both sides have more than billions people to look after. And your military is superior but useless in an economic competition.

So, no, you have problems which your project can't handle.

And China's slowdown+India's fast growth is helping us to catch up now. This one thing is that you must accept about India.

That is key here: India will need to improve her domestic infrastructure in next 15-20 years if you are growing as you plan, which means you own construction companies will have a hard time satisfy your domestic demand, not to mention the overseas; one more thing, India doesn't have the necessary capital to provide loan to these countries.

At the meantime, China is slowing down which results the surplus in her construction capability and capital. That is also why China need silk route: she need find new market for her domestic industries.

 

[amoy]

I wish Indians could become mature and expand their horizons slightly. Spice or Monsoon is way beyond countering this or that. Had there been no China rise, Indians would still need to trade with Oman et al and export their excessive cheap labor which their own underdeveloped economy cannot accomodate.

People gotta eat live and uplift… That's nothing to do with China. Indians should stop this China obsession and gear up to look farther for their own good. Politicians like Modi may need to brand xxx as counter-China like attention whores but at the end of the day commoners will always ask “what's in it for me?”

~Tapa talks: Orange is the new black.~

 

[Punya Pratap]

@ amoy the China obsession is due to the dangerous game China has played against India through its Pakistan policy. China is the reason why the most dangerous country which is THE HUB of all terrorism related activities (financial or men/material or otherwise) in the entire World has a nuclear bomb that will come to haunt the World some day and as Pakistan's oldest ally America found out, I m very sure that China will suffer soon enough be it the ETIM rebels trained and tacitly favoured by your "All Weather Friend" or the future terrorist attacks.

As for the Silk Route/Spice Routes, I would like to bring to everyone's notice in this discussion that the Spice Caravans were camel laid caravans that traversed to Persian Empire through the Thar Desert. This was the major mode of transport before the East India Company made the maritime route more functional. This inland route was devoid of the fear of recalcitrant ocean currents or storms!

Since the great villain Pakistan sits astride this land route, Mausam is the only alternative and one which is more feasible. No matter what and how much China throws economically it is a given fact that without India's cooperation/participation China cannot have a viable and long standing operational Silk Route.

This fact will be well realised by China sooner or later and also the fact that creating a hostile relation with India in the 21st Century is not good for any immediate neighbour cause it harms the economical growth. Hence I suggest China relook at its policies of frequest border intrusions and settle this issue. Also the String of Pearls is more practical when worn in the neck instead of trying to encircle India which is going to be the next power house and its good to be on friendly terms with the growing nation like India.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

So, India has been trade centre between east and west for decades, there is nothing new here. You don't need to put up a big project with nothing new.

Who will want to stuck at old position?

What compromise? Neither you, nor them have the capability to make significant compromise: both sides have more than billions people to look after.

Both sides have billions?

And your military is superior but useless in an economic competition.

I was talking about supply blockade capability,
which can give us a huge advantage in wartime.
:biggrin2:
We can block trade route in a moment affecting many countries even from far away.

So, no, you have problems which your project can't handle.

Kindly tell me problems.
If talking about maritime issues, we can handle them just like you guys do.

That is key here: India will need to improve her domestic infrastructure in next 15-20 years if you are growing as you plan, which means you own construction companies will have a hard time satisfy your domestic demand

In case of infrastructure, our road network is even bigger than China.+ Our construction companies are fulfilling enough demands.
As infrastructure is improving at good rate. No need to mention that.

one more thing, India doesn't have the necessary capital to provide loan to these countries.

Means we can't develop? Economic growth is enough to give us capacity to do that in 5-8 years.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

I wish Indians could become mature and expand their horizons slightly.

Regards

Had there been no China rise, Indians would still need to trade with Oman et al

If their instability lets us do.

and export their excessive cheap labor which their own underdeveloped economy cannot accomodate.

Everybody has not to start with 99% poverty ratio and just 13% literacy.
But we improved that. Literacy has hit 80%, poverty ratio at 1.9$ has declined to 12%
and 14% at 2$(better than China's 18%).
It is still improving fastly.
Just calling us underdeveloped isn't an excuse that we shouldn't invest in such projects specially when we do them.in shoe tip budget.

People gotta eat live and uplift

stuck on 90s India myth, once again for you, Countries by poverty ratio- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That's nothing to do with China.
Indians should stop this China obsession and gear up to look farther for their own good. Politicians like Modi may need to brand xxx as counter-China like attention whores but at the end of the day commoners will always ask “what's in it for me?”

~Tapa talks: Orange is the new black.~

Agree with you, anyway, it's our media who is really obsessed with you guys.
Title of this report is example. I just posted it because topic of trade routes was notable.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

@ amoy the China obsession is due to the dangerous game China has played against India through its Pakistan policy. China is the reason why the most dangerous country which is THE HUB of all terrorism related activities (financial or men/material or otherwise) in the entire World has a nuclear bomb that will come to haunt the World some day and as Pakistan's oldest ally America found out, I m very sure that China will suffer soon enough be it the ETIM rebels trained and tacitly favoured by your "All Weather Friend" or the future terrorist attacks.

As for the Silk Route/Spice Routes, I would like to bring to everyone's notice in this discussion that the Spice Caravans were camel laid caravans that traversed to Persian Empire through the Thar Desert. This was the major mode of transport before the East India Company made the maritime route more functional. This inland route was devoid of the fear of recalcitrant ocean currents or storms!

Since the great villain Pakistan sits astride this land route, Mausam is the only alternative and one which is more feasible. No matter what and how much China throws economically it is a given fact that without India's cooperation/participation China cannot have a viable and long standing operational Silk Route.

This fact will be well realised by China sooner or later and also the fact that creating a hostile relation with India in the 21st Century is not good for any immediate neighbour cause it harms the economical growth. Hence I suggest China relook at its policies of frequest border intrusions and settle this issue. Also the String of Pearls is more practical when worn in the neck instead of trying to encircle India which is going to be the next power house and its good to be on friendly terms with the growing nation like India.

True but a political issue. Please don't annoy someone on political issue. We're talking of economy. I don't wanna quarrels with someone yaar.

 

[amoy]

I hope Indian posters can update the thread on Spice Route or Monsoon programs, regularly.

From time to time I find GoI or Indian media comes up with some fancy eye catching names, such as Look East then Act East etc. That's great for inspiration and also fabulous if materialized gradually. Yet often enough we lose track of them. Therefore it's appreciated if Indian members may stick to what's in hand.

Again since all of u like to bring China into contrast, u can easily track where China is moving along the Silk Routes~ China launched Silk Road Foundation and AIIB. China is pouring big $ into CPEC n Port Colombo. China is bidding for Indonesia rail against Japan. In Central Asia new pipelines… So u see Chinese r walking the talk according to the initiative step by step though not always smoothly.

U have big ideas let's see how it's fulfilled, with something visible or substantive.

~Tapa talks: Orange is the new black.~

 

[Compersion]

Why we have the routes to west ... Like it is heaven ... Sure its good

But what we call the routes between and inside Asia especially India and others

For example routes from India to PRC ... Is it confused route ?? Too bad the real journey to the west is not being explored and its reasons.